The key facts
- The court hearing card dated October 30 lists 25 defendants, versus the nine officially reported by the Supreme Court in July
- The card of the court hearing on October 30 lists 25 defendants, versus the nine officially reported by the Supreme Court in July
- Mubin Mirzayev appears in a second criminal case — under Articles 167 and 209 of the Criminal Code, while on July 27 he was already sentenced to 8 years and 2 months in another case
- The proceedings have been held behind closed doors since August 14; the court has not yet assessed the parties' arguments
The number of defendants has grown from nine to 25
The electronic court hearing schedule of the Supreme Court for the criminal case of former chairman of the board of Uzbekneftegaz Bahodirjon Sidikov lists 25 defendants. The list is posted in the case card of a hearing at the Yashnobod district criminal court of Tashkent scheduled for October 30; the case is being heard by judge Jasurbek Ubaydullayev. This is reported by Gazeta citing the court system.
Discrepancy with official figures
The discrepancy is significant: in July the press service of the Supreme Court reported nine defendants, five of whom were in custody, while bail was set for four. It is not specified why the electronic card lists considerably more people and whether this composition remains in place. The court has not yet assessed either the arguments of the state prosecutor or the defendants' testimony — what is described reflects the positions voiced at an open hearing, not facts established by the court.
Mubin Mirzayev — a defendant in two cases
Among the new defendants is former first deputy chairman of the Tax Committee Mubin Mirzayev. According to the court system, he is charged under subparagraph «a» of part 3 of Article 167 (embezzlement through appropriation or squandering on an especially large scale) and subparagraph «a» of part 2 of Article 209 (official forgery) of the Criminal Code. The published data do not specify which episodes the charges relate to, when he was added to the case, or what damage he is accused of causing. Notably, on July 27 the Shaykhantahur district court already sentenced Mirzayev to 8 years and 2 months of imprisonment in another case — for fraud on an especially large scale, abuse of authority and inaction of authority; eight other defendants in that case received from 4 to 9 years. Thus, he appears in two cases with different sets of charges.
Who else is named in the case
Besides Sidikov, who is charged under Articles 167, 205, 209 and 243 of the Criminal Code, the list includes former deputy chairman of the board of Uzbekneftegaz Bakhtiyar Anarkulov, former head of the procurement department Dilmurod Burkhanov, representatives of Enter Engineering and Eriell Management, and other individuals. Separate defendants are also charged with sham entrepreneurship, tax evasion and other crimes.
Matches with corporate registries
Gazeta compared the list with corporate databases and found full matches between the names of several defendants and executives of companies linked to the oil and gas industry. Masrur Shakirov (charges under Articles 167 and 209 of the Criminal Code) — according to Orginfo and iHamkor, heads Arkchemical, registered in the Karakul district of the Bukhara region in June 2023; the company's founders are Sanoat Energetika Guruhi Enera (60%) and Uzbekneftegaz (40%). In June, the Department for Combating Economic Crimes under the Prosecutor General's Office reported the discovery of embezzlement of budget funds amounting to 643.2 billion soums ($53.9 million) in the project to expand the Shurtan gas-chemical complex, in which Arkchemical appears. Shakirov is also listed as head of Gas Chemical Complex MTO Central Asia, and was previously mentioned as deputy general director of Jizzakh Petroleum (now Saneg). Olim Orinbayev (Articles 167 and 209 of the Criminal Code), according to Orginfo, heads LLC Ustyurtgaz, which produced gas in the Muynak district of Karakalpakstan and was 100% owned by Uzbekneftegaz; the company is now marked as liquidated.
Uzbekneftegaz suppliers on the list
Name matches were also found among executives of supplier companies: Furkatjon Khatamov — head and owner of 74.6% of Ecomax Energy, which twice won Uzbekneftegaz procurements for the Mubarek gas processing plant (worth 7.303 billion and 1.603 billion soums); Nasullo Nutfullayev — head of Enproc MNG, winner of two May 2023 procurements; Sardorbek Karimov — head of Stark Industries Distribution, which received orders for the Shurtan gas and oil production department and the gas-chemical complex; Kuvondik Sadullayev (charged under Articles 167, 179, 209, 227 and 243 of the Criminal Code) — sole founder of General Amcent Group, which appears among the winners of procurements by oil and gas enterprises. The list also names Islombek Karimov, founder and head of Neftegaz Mexanika. At the same time, as the publication stresses, the publicly available court materials contain no indication that the activities of these companies are part of the charges: a company's presence among suppliers does not in itself indicate wrongdoing, and the procurements found in the registries cannot be considered episodes of the case without confirmation by the court or procedural documents.
